WWE Presents SummerSlam 2010 Sunday On PPV
Now that TNA has gotten through their ECW nostalgia show, Hardcore Justice, focus has turned to this week’s Impact, a show that will feature matches originally planned for Pay-per-view. The concept of putting potential PPV bouts on television is nothing new, and TNA has often been accused of wasting “first time” bouts by having them on Impact instead of waiting to make fans pay to see them. That said, this show will not feature a single PPV quality match, but a slew of them. Top of the list is the final bout in the five-match series between Beer Money Inc. and The Motor City Machine Guns. Arguably the feud of the year in TNA (or in wrestling period, for that matter), the bouts have garnered rave reviews, and this final battle will see them have a Best Two Out Of Three Falls encounter, which pretty much guarantees a long bout between them. There’s also Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles, as Angle continues his climb up the TNA rankings, TNA World Champion Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss, with Abyss’ barbed wire board “Janice” above the ring and more. It’s a loaded show, and it will be very interesting to see what kind of ratings they draw. If Impact doesn’t show an increase in viewership with this lineup, I can’t imagine there will be too many happy faces at the next set of tapings.
WWE has Summerslam this Sunday, and one of the more interesting aspects to watch will be the booking of the Team WWE vs. Nexus elimination match. Unlike a traditional match with one fall, we could have as many as thirteen falls before this one is said and done. This allows WWE the opportunity to have several wrestlers get over in the course of the match, rather than just the winner looking good at the end of the night. If you go back to WWE’s Survivor Series (back when the show actually was made up of Survivor matches), stars often got over just by having a great performance, even if they didn’t win. Back in 1987, Bam Bam Bigelow became a star when, left as the sole member of his team, he eliminated King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang before being ultimately pinned by Andre The Giant. WWE could book similar situations here. Having a Justin Gabriel or Heath Slater pick up an impressive elimination or two, or allowing John Morrison to battle the odds for a lengthy period of time, can get over these younger stars, while still having John Cena stand tall at the end (yeah, I figure it is going that way too). This match is a great opportunity for WWE, if they choose to make the most of it.
Shortly after his departure from WWE, Batista made noises that he was interested in pursuing a career in Mixed Martial Arts. Most paid his claims no mind, since the idea of the 41-year-old Batista, with no real fighting experience and a string of injury issues, seemed ludicrous at best. Even when he started training at the famed Caesar Gracie Academy in Los Angeles, most figured it was more a hobby than anything else. After all, several celebrities have started using MMA training as the latest “fad” of staying in shape, not ever planning on throwing down professionally. However, with the Strikeforce group desperate for an attention grabbing main event that can garner them some of the spotlight that UFC enjoys, it looks like Batista may end up fighting at all. He has reportedly entered into negotiations with the group to face fellow former WWE star Bobby Lashley. The 34 year old Lashley is undefeated in MMA, and is scheduled to fight for Strikeforce on August 21st against Chad Griggs. Lashley recently commented that while he doesn’t see a fight with Batista as being beneficial to his career, he would accept it if Strikeforce asked him to take the bout. Perhaps Strikeforce should realize that putting a pro wrestler with no experience (and a lot of injury issues) might get them a one-time curiosity buyrate, but wouldn’t be beneficial to them being taken seriously as an MMA company.
